Bread-cutter.



T. W. FORSTER. BREAD CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 5, 1911. 1,os1,1 1 1.

WIN/8858: Ill/VENTOR W Jfiaw %Zb jffimw I BY ,4 TTOR/I/EY Patented July2, 1912.

2 SHEETSTSHEET 1.

T. W. FORSTER. BREAD CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 5, 1911.

Patented July 2, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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NTTE ill S PATEN OFFICE.

THOMAS W.-FORSTER, OF PORTLAND, OREGON.

BREAD-CUTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2, 1912.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS W. FoRsrnR, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, residing at Portland, in the county of Multnomah and State ofOregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBread-Cutters, of which the following is, a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in a machine for slicing bread, andtheobject of my invention is to cut a plurality of slices of bread atone operation and of uniform thickness.

A further object is to provide improved means for guiding the cuttingmechanism on the bread support.

The objects and features of my invention are clearly set forth in thefollowing description and illustrated in the appended drawings, ofwhich:

Figure 1 is a sectional front elevation of the bread support, thecutting mechanism being merely indicated to show its relation to saidsupport, Fig. 2 is an end elevation in agreement with Fig. 1 and withparts broken away for the sake of clearness, Fig. 3 illustratesperspectively the cutting mechanism, Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view ofFig. 3, Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view of the cutting mechanism, andFig. 6 is a detail view showing a part of the guiding means for thecutting mechanism.

My device is mounted on a suitable base a, which may be provided withmeans as hooks b, for steadying the machine on the table or otherreceptacle, on which it is placed.

The main part of my device is a block 0 made of wood or other suitablematerial having at its top a V shaped groove d, adapted to receive thebread loaf to be cut. The block is furthermore made with a series ofnotches f, equidistant and disposed at right angle to groove (Z. Guidestrips 9, integral with block 0, are adapted to receive a detachablevertically disposed frame It, positioned parallel with notches f. To oneend of block 0 I secure a pair of vertically disposed bars 2', the upperends of which are provided with notches j, adapted to receive shoulderedstuds 70 of guide plate Z. At the bottom plate l is made with notches mengaging studs 1?. of block a. By this construction guide plate Z isdetachably secured to the block.

The cutting mechanism comprises a series of knives 0, which aresuspended between strips 7) of cutter frame q in the following manner.Strips 79 are provided with a series of parallel diagonally disposednotches 7', into which the ends of knives 0 are inserted. The latter areat their ends made with notches 6, through which extend a pair of boltsu, by means of which the entire cutting mechanism is tied together asclearly shown in Figs. 3, 4L and 5. The knives are locked in place by apair of retaining bars 0, which, as shown in the drawing, are alsoclamped in position by bolts 24.

To place the cutting mechanism in its operating position, guide plate Zis first re moved and the cutter dropped into' slots 1 of block 0,whereupon said guide plate is again attached to the block. The cutter isthen raised until the loaf to be cut is free to pass under the knives,and the cutting operation may commence. During the cutting operation thecutter, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 is guided between frame It, guideplate Z and bars 2', thus insuring the correct registration of theknives with notches f, which furthermore are made wider than the knives.The loaf may be held in place by resting the left hand on its free end,or frame it may conveniently be employed to clamp the loaf in place.

It is obvious that the knives must be spaced to correspond with slots finto which they sink, and the knives may be made wide or narrow asconditions require. But the knives are preferably relatively sopositioned, that the bottom edge of the uppermost knife is higher thanthe top edge of the succeeding knife and so forth. This feature isclearly indicated in Fig. 1, and is necessary in order to permit theknives to operate without tearing or breaklng the bread. By referring toFig. 1 it is also noticed, that the lower edge of cutter frame 9 is sopositioned relative to knives 0, that it comes to rest on block 0 beforesaid knives reach the bottom of notches 7, thereby preventing thecutting edges of the kn ves from touching said notch bottoms. This is1mportant in order to retain a sharp edge on the knives.

Having thus described my lnventlon, I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a support, said supporthaving on 1ts top a longitudinal V shaped groove and made with a seriesof transverse equidistant the combination of a grooved support with:

a cutter mechanism comprising, a cutter frame, a series of parallelequidistant diagonally disposed knives, said knives so stepped that thebottom edge of a higher knife clears the top edge of a lower succeedingknife and made at each end with a notch,a pair of bolts tying said frametogether, said bolts registering with and eX- tending through thenotches of said knives,

a pair of retaining bars locking said knives on said bolts, and meansfor guiding the 7 cutter frame on the support.

3. In a device of the character described in combination, a groovedsupport, a cutter frame diagonally disposed relative to said support, aseries of parallel equidistant knives diagonally fixed in said frame andso stepped that the bottom edge of a higher knife clears the top edge ofa succeeding lower knife, means for guiding said cutter frame onsaidsupport, said means comprising, a sliding frame verticallyadjustableon said support and positioned adjacent to the upper sidemember of said cutter frame, a pair ofver-tically disposed bars on saidsupport, a guide plate detachably hung on said bars and said support andso positioned relative to the lower side member of the cutter frame asto guide and limit the vertical motion of said lower side member.

4:. In a device of the character described in combination, a groovedsupport, a cutter mechanism, a series of parallel equidistant steppedknives diagonally fixed in said cutter mechanism, means detachablymounted on said support for guiding said cutter mechanism on saidsupport, and means cooperating with the lower side member of said cut-ter mechanism for limiting the vertical motion of the cutter mechanism,said means preventing the cutting edges of said knives from coming incontact with said support.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature in presence of two witnesses;

THOMAS W. FORSTER. Witnesses:

K. F. DotIGH'rY, C. C. ABBOTT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

, Washington, I). G.

